Board of Directors

After graduating from the German High School in Istanbul, Ahmet Yahya Kiğılı assumed the management of Fahri and Avni Kiğılı Collective Company, which was established in 1937 in Sultanhamam in the textile sector, and entered the industrial sector in 1961. After entering a different sector by establishing Kastamonu Entegre Ağaç Sanayi ve Ticaret A.Ş. in 1969, Kiğılı then entered the fast-moving consumer goods sector with Hayat Kimya Sanayi A.Ş. in 1987.  Ahmet Yahya Kiğılı is the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Hayat Holding  engaged in the fast-moving consumer goods, wood and forestry products, port management, retail and construction sectors. Ahmet Yahya Kiğılı speaks English and German.

Born in 1974 in Istanbul, M. Avni Kiğılı is the 3rd  generation member of Kiğılı family. In the first 3 years of his business life, Mr. Kiğılı performed different duties and responsibilities within Hayat Kimya and taken responsibility for the personal care investment in 1997.  In 2002, he became the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Hayat Temizlik ve Sağlık Ürünleri A.Ş., Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of Hayat Kimya in 2009 and the Chairman of the Executive Board of Hayat Holding in 2013.  He currently serves as Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Hayat Holding A.Ş., which operates in the fields of wood and forestry products, home and personal care products, port management, cellulose and paper industry and real estate. M. Avni Kiğılı is married and has 3 children.

Murat ULUS was born in Kırşehir in 1965. He graduated from Ankara University Faculty of Political Sciences in 1987. He completed his postgraduate education in the Financial Economics department at Boston University. From 1987 to 1995, ULUS worked as an Assistant Auditor and Auditor at the Undersecretariat of the Treasury. From 1995 to 1996, he served as the Deputy General Manager at Egebank. ULUS then worked at Bank Asya and served as a Board Member of Ziraat Bank, one of Turkey's oldest public banks, where he also played an active role in the management boards of the bank's domestic and international subsidiaries. ULUS founded the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Trade and Development Bank in 2007 and served as its President until 2011. In June 2011, he took over as the General Manager of Takasbank and led the organization in innovative initiatives for five years. During this period, ULUS also served as the Chairman of the Central Securities Depository Board from 2013 to March 2016, concurrently holding both positions. From 2017 to 2022, he was the Chairman of the Board at Global Eyes Foreign Trade Inc. Since August 2022, he has been serving as a Board Member with Special Authority at Hayat Finans Participation Bank Inc. Murat ULUS is proficient in English.

Born in 1954 in Trabzon, Akyüz graduated from Ankara University, Faculty of Political Sciences in 1977. In 1978, he began working as an Account Specialist at the Ministry of Finance, which he left in 1983 and then he started working in the sector. After serving as a Financial Advisor and Auditor in a large construction group between 1983 and 1985, he joined Albaraka Türk Participation Bank at the beginning of 1985. After working as Manager and Assistant General Manager at various levels, he was appointed as the General Manager on 01/01/1996. Mr. Akyüz retired as the General Manager of Albaraka Türk Participation Bank on 05/03/2002 and served as Board Member and Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors in the same bank until March 2020. In addition, Mr. Akyüz served as the Chairman of the Board of the Republic of Turkey Istanbul Development Agency for two terms, as a Member of the Board of Directors of Sinpaş Real Estate Investment Trust between 2007 and 2015, as a Member of the Assembly of the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce between 2005 and 2020, and as the Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Istanbul Stock Exchange between 2012 and 2016. On the other hand, he served as the Secretary General of the Participation Banks Association of Turkey since 2002 and resigned from this position in January 2022.

Akyüz, serving as a Member of the Board of Directors and Chairman of the Audit Committee of Hayat Finans Katılım Bankası A.Ş. since August 2022, is fluent in English.

Oğuz Kayhan, born in Denizli in 1966, graduated from the Faculty of Political Sciences at Ankara University, Department of Economics in 1986. In 1987, he began his professional career as an Assistant Sworn Auditor of Banks  at the Treasury Undersecretariat . Between 1998 and 2001, he served as Deputy Chairman and for nine months in the same period, acting as the Chairman by Proxy of the Banks Sworn Audits Board. From 2001 to 2007, he held various positions, including Department Head (for Licensing and Implementation Departments) at the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency. In 2007, Oğuz Kayhan was appointed as a Member of the Board of Directors and of the Audit Committee at Ziraat Bank A.Ş., and he served in these roles until September 2012. During this period, he also served as a Member of the Board of Directors at Ziraat Bank's subsidiaries in Germany, Russia, Macedonia, and Bosnia, as well as being a founding member of the Board of Directors at Ziraat Sigorta A.Ş. and Ziraat Hayat ve Emeklilik A.Ş. While fulfilling his duties at Ziraat Bank, he was also a Member of the Board of Directors at Arab Turkish Bank A.Ş. for nine months in 2011 and 2012. From 2012 to 2016, he held the position of Member of the Board of Directors and Chairman of the Audit Committee at Türkiye Finans Katılım Bankası A.Ş. Since 2016, he has been serving as a consultant and a member of executive committees in various companies. Since August 2022, Oğuz Kayhan has been a Member of the Board of Directors and the Audit Committee at Hayat Katılım Bankası A.Ş. He holds a master's degree in Accounting and Finance from Gazi University, he is married with one child, and is proficient in English.

Born in 1969 in Sivas, Soner CANKO graduated from Istanbul University, Faculty of Political Sciences in 1990. He completed his graduate studies at Istanbul University, Department of Money and Banking in 1993 and received his PhD in Economics from Istanbul University in 2003. Dr. Soner Canko began his career in 1990 and held managerial positions in various leading international companies in his field. In 2011, he assumed the position of General Manager of the Interbank Card Center. In this position, Canko focused on providing products and services based on digital technologies, and worked on efforts to formalize the economy and transition Turkey to a cashless society. Dr. Soner Canko, who enabled the launch of Turkey's first digital wallet BKM Express and the country's Payment Method TROY, facilitated the transfer of small amounts of significant funds to NGOs through his pioneering digital donation campaign. As a co-founder of FinTech Istanbul, he is also involved in creating the blockchain ecosystem in Turkey through the non-profit organization Blockchain Turkey Platform. He is well-known for his work in the financial technology field in Turkey. Dr. Canko has contributed numerous articles to important publications targeting the business world, focusing on financial technologies and digital leadership. His videos, writings, and other content have earned him the title of "Digital CEO" in the public eye.

Since August 2022, Dr. Soner Canko has been serving as a Member of the Board of Directors at Hayat Finans Katılım Bankası A.Ş. He is proficient in English.

Melih Murat Ertem, who graduated from METU Electrical and Electronics Department in 1995, started working as a Software Specialist at İş Bankası Information Processing Department in 1996. He continued his career as an Assistant Manager in the Information Processing Department in 2005. Ertem, appointed as the Unit Manager of IT Product and Service Delivery Department in 2008, became the Manager of the same department in 2010. In 2012, he was appointed as the Deputy General Manager of İş Yatırım Menkul Değerler AŞ, and on November 1, 2016, he was appointed as the General Manager of SoftTech Yazılım Tek. Araş. Geliş. ve Paz. Tic. Araş. Geliş. ve Paz. Tic. Since June 15, 2022. Murat Ertem served as the General Manager of Hayat Finans Katılım Bankası between June 2022 and December 2023, continues to serve as a Member of the Board Memeber of Hayat Finans as December 2023. 

Melih Murat Ertem completed the eMBA Master's program at Bilgi University in 2014 and the General Management Program at Harvard Business School in 2016. He is proficient in English, married, and is a father of three children.

Galip Karagöz, who graduated with honors from the Computer Engineering department of Boğaziçi University in 1991, took on the role of co-founder responsible for technology operations at Bima-Escort Software, a technology start-up company established in the same year. Between 1999 and 2005, he managed a portfolio consisting of Investment Banking, Consumer Finance, Chamber of Commerce and Trade Registry Applications at Globis, a technology company owned by EGS Bank. Between 2005 and 2011, he took an active role as Application Development Director at Ziraat Technology, a subsidiary of Ziraat Finance Group, one of Turkey's most established public banks, and took on the leadership role in the first and largest agile transformation study in the finance sector in 2009. From 2012 to 2016, he held senior positions as Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors at the Central Registry Agency. During the same years, he also served as the CIO and Deputy General Manager of Takasbank. Between 2016 and 2017, he was the Group Director of IT at the e-commerce platform Hepsiburada. From 2017 to 2018, he served as the CEO of Ezgetech Technology, a London-based technology consultancy firm. Between 2018 and 2019, he worked as a BT Consultant and Solution Architect at Santander Corporate & Investment Banking's London office, which operates in more than 20 countries worldwide. He worked as an IT Consultancy and Solution Architect at Banking's London office, and as a Board Member and IT Consultant at Osmanlı Yatırım Menkul Değerler in September 2019.

Karagöz, who has been serving as the General Manager and Board Member of Hayat Finans Katılım Bankası since December 12 2023, speaks English fluently. He is married and has two children.